Hot Topics:

Options: Gus Macker looking for new sponsor, but a new event could take its place

New event, sponsors possible

By Steve Ramirez

sramirez@lcsun-news.com @SteveRamirez6 on Twitter

Posted:
01/04/2014 05:53:56 PM MST

LAS CRUCES >> Don't put away those basketball shoes and ball just yet. There could be a recreational basketball tournament in Las Cruces later this year, after all.

Scott McNeal, founder of the Gus Macker 3-on-3 said he has not given up efforts to find a new sponsor in Las Cruces to organize and run a tournament in Las Cruces this year. Last week, representatives of the Las Cruces Boys and Girls Club said they would not organize a tournament this year.

The Gus Macker website does not list a tournament in Las Cruces this year. Since 1995, when Gus Macker was played in Las Cruces for the first time, the tournament has been one of that organization's largest tournaments in the United States.

Last year's tournament drew about 500 teams, which played in smaller groups based primarily on age and skill levels.

Although the tournament is not scheduled to return to Las Cruces, McNeal said he would hate to see it go.

"We have not finalized our 2014 Gus Macker Tour schedule," said McNeal, in an email to the Las Cruces Sun-News. The local host organization, the Boys and Girls Club of Las Cruces, informed us that they would not be renewing their contract for 2014, late this fall.

"We have sent our tournament sales director into (Las Cruces) to investigate various leads on this project. Our goal is to continue our event in Las Cruces, but have not completed our search yet."

Advertisement

McNeal added more tournament dates will be announced through the Gus Macker website, macker.com, and Las Cruces could be added if a new sponsor can be found.

"We're not 100 percent decided against coming back to Las Cruces," McNeal said. "It does put our event in peril, but we are looking for other options, other sponsors."

Ken Hoeksema, who organized the tournament the past four years, said the board of directors of the Las Cruces Boys and Girls Club decided against sponsoring the tournament, as a fund raiser for the club, because net profits could not justify the amount of planning and efforts to stage the event. He added it had become increasingly harder to find enough co-sponsors to underwrite the event and offset costs.

"We felt badly about the decision because we realized Gus Macker was something a lot of people look forward to," Hoeksema said. "But at the end of the day, for us, the cash (profit) was the bottom line."

If a new sponsor cannot be found, Ed Carnathan, sports sales manager for the Las Cruces Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the Hoop It Up 3-on-3 Basketball tournament could be a replacement.

"We've already spoken to them, and they're ready to come in and run it themselves," Carnathan said. "If it does come in, it's possible it could be staged at a different time of the year."

Las Crucen Rhyan Reyes doesn't have a preference for which event will be in Las Cruces. Reyes just wants to play.

Hoop It Up is owned and managed by the North American Sports Group, which has offices in Sarasota, Fla., and Denver, Co. In addition to Hoop It Up, North American Sports Group is the owner and operator of other grass-roots sports properties, including, Kick It 3-on-3 soccer, Let It Fly flag football, Sticks Up lacrosse, and the U.S. Sports Festivals.

Hoop It Up was originally created by the National Basketball Association. Its tournaments now utilize International Basketball Federation (FIBA) rules.

Carnathan said if Hoop It Up comes to Las Cruces, events could staged at the Las Cruces Public Schools Sports Complex, also known as the Field of Dreams, just as Gus Macker has been for several years. Because of the facilities at the Field of Dreams, more events could potentially be conducted.

"If they come in, there could be Hoop It Up and Kick It tournaments at the same time," Carnathan said. "For events like that, it's even possible those could be at New Mexico State University. Could you imagine seeing the parking lots around the Pan American Center full of basketball courts, with soccer being played on fields nearby?"

A similar event was conducted last summer in Albuquerque. It included basketball and soccer tournaments, and an evening of live bands providing entertainment.

The CVB's Carnathan said Gus Macker has had an estimated annual economic impact of about $100,000 in Las Cruces. Carnathan said as many as 150 of the approximately 500 teams that have played yearly in Gus Macker's Las Cruces tournament have been from out of town. Those teams often pay for lodging, meals and other incidental expenses during their stay.